


Leave us innocent

by weepingnaiad



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Community: hc_bingo, Episode: s01e19 The Only Light in the Darkness, Episode: s01e20 Nothing Personal, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Spoilers, can you betray an organization that imploded?, dealing with author's feelings, justifiable anger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 05:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1539554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weepingnaiad/pseuds/weepingnaiad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria Hill rats Phil and his team and the secret base out to Colonel Glenn Talbot.  For Phil that's the last straw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave us innocent

**Author's Note:**

> I just had to write something to deal with all my pheels that Maria sold Phil out. I was so angry at her when I saw the preview, so this is what happened.
> 
> I did snag the opening dialog from the preview, so if that seems familiar, it should. I wanted to call back the setup that got me so steamed.

"These doors should hold. It'll take some major artillery to make a dent."

_'Hangar door deactivated.'_

"How?!" Jemma cried out from over his shoulder. "That's impossible!"

"Take cover," Phil ordered. "Let's go."

The team scrambled to do just that while Phil backed up to their position, fear knotting his insides, adrenaline coursing through him. He wasn't going to let Hydra take this base. If they did, they'd have to do it over his dead body. He eyed the hallway as the doors slid open.

"It's not Hydra. It's special forces." Phil was conflicted. He knew these men were just following orders, but who was pulling their strings?

"On behalf of the United States Armed Forces, I order you to stand down."

Fucking Glenn Talbot.

"I repeat. Stand down." As if Phil Coulson was going to listen to General Ross's flunky.

"Colonel Talbot?" Phil called back. "There have to be better things for you to do than chase four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents." Like try to run a genius scientist into the ground so he can be captured and experimented on. Phil had gained a lot of sympathy for Bruce Banner recently.

"I wasn't a huge fan before chasing you to the damned tundra, Coulson."

Phil almost snorted. Of course not.

"I wouldn't push it," Talbot continued.

"I'm flattered you came in person." That was a big damn lie, but Phil's always loved tweaking Ross and his people's noses.

Talbot began advancing on Phil's position. "Fury's private base on North American soil? I just had to see it for myself."

Phil glanced across the hallway at Trip, giving him a short nod before asking Talbot, "If I come out, will you shoot me? Because then I won't come out."

"Hold your fire, soldiers."

Phil handed off his weapon to Fitz and stepped out. He began walking toward Talbot to divert his attention away from Phil's team. "This is one of the most classified facilities on the planet, Colonel. How the hell'd you find it?" Phil needed to know what was going on. There were only a few people left in the world that he trusted and most of them were behind him, but none of the others would have helped Talbot.

Footsteps rounded the corner and Phil pulled up short to see Maria Hill striding in front of two more armed guards. "I told them," she said and Phil forgot how to breathe.

The anger and betrayal came back an instant later and Phil advanced on Maria, voice cold as he said, "You did what? You betrayed us to Talbot? Why in the hell would you do that?" He swallowed. "Are you Hydra?"

Phil didn't realize he'd raised his fists until he heard the guns snap up, six of them pointed between his eyes. Phil looked at his hands, glared at Maria, then dropped his hands and his gaze. "Fuckin' hell, Hill. I thought we were friends," he said.

"Stand down," Maria barked. "I've got this."

"I don't believe you do, ma'am," Talbot said. "This one's wily." Talbot's compliment dripped with disdain.

Phil clenched his jaw and ground his teeth together, but he relaxed his hands and took a step back.

Maria looked at Talbot, her head cocked as if to say 'See?'. He shrugged in response, but said, "Stand down, soldiers." Then he turned to Phil and held out his hand. "I'll need your sidearm."

A flash of bright red rage roared through Phil's blood; Talbot's demand was far too close to May's and that wound hadn't even stopped bleeding. "No," Phil said. "I don't know what you're doing here and I have most assuredly not agreed to surrender this facility to you."

"Phil," Maria said, stepping forward.

Phil flicked his eyes to Maria, but did not let the glance linger otherwise he might lose it once again. He stood his ground in front of Talbot.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is a terrorist organization and as such all of its remaining assets _and_ agents are to be taken into custody. You do understand what that means, don't you, Coulson?"

"At this time, all I have is your word on that."

"Phil," Maria moved closer until she rested her palm on Phil's suit coat sleeve. "Can we go somewhere to talk?"

He gritted his jaw so hard he was surprised he didn't crack a tooth. But he couldn't lose it here, not in front of Talbot and his soldiers. He turned to meet Maria's eyes. "I'll listen to what you have to say, but not until Talbot and his men back the fuck out. They can cool their jets in the hangar."

"No way in hell! I have my orders!"

Phil turned back to face Talbot. "We're not surrendering this base at gunpoint, Colonel. Either Hill here can convince me, or my team and I are prepared to go down fighting."

"You sonuvabitch."

"It's your call, but are you willing to lose good men simply because you're too stubborn to give us some time?"

"Of course he's not, Phil. No one wants any bloodshed. There's been enough."

Phil crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. He had no idea where Maria'd been when everything went down, but he suspected she'd done her own share of fighting Hydra. But even if she'd been on the front lines, she wasn't now. She'd given up, written S.H.I.E.L.D. off. Phil wasn't ready to forgive that.

Talbot narrowed his eyes at Phil. "I will thoroughly enjoy bringing you in, Coulson." With that, he turned on his heel and waved his soldiers out with him, the hangar doors closing behind them.

"Phil?"

He turned on Maria. "You better start talking because at this point you reek of Hydra and this, on top of T.A.H.I.T.I., makes me inclined to take you down with me."

"Sir?" Trip called from his position.

"Keep watching the doors. I'll be back shortly."

"Us, too?" Jemma asked.

Phil stopped walking and looked at Fitz. "See if you can't wipe all the previous accesses. Reset the system to just us."

"I can do that."

"I have no doubt," Phil nodded and resumed walking.

Phil didn't want Maria anywhere near their gear, so instead of leading her into the comfortable lounge, he walked into the break room. He leaned against the counter with his arms crossed and his face set as impassively as he could. He still felt like he was splitting into two, neither half knowing what the other was capable of.

"So talk. _Convince_ me." He barely kept the sneer out of his voice.

"Phil, there is no S.H.I.E.L.D. What in the hell do you think you can do from here? With four agents." She looked around the break room. "You can't stay here forever. There's no re-supply coming. No fuel."

Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared Phil down. "And if you leave in that plane? You'll be fugitives, wanted in every allied country, or shot down before you make international air space."

"Fuck you, Hill. You know damn good and well none of that would be a problem!" Phil growled, then started pacing under Maria's cool gaze.

"Phil," she began, hands out, tone soft.

He turned on her, barely able to keep from shaking apart. "Don't! Goddammit! You turncoat. Just fuckin' don't! What the hell are you doing here anyway? Come to collect the malfunctioning experiment? Make sure I don't fall into enemy hands?"

"That's not…" She shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

Phil didn't answer. Instead he asked his own question. "How'd you even know we were here?"

Maria licked her lips and Phil could almost pretend he imagined the brief flash of regret in her eyes. "Mel."

Phil froze mid-step; his back to Maria, lips parted on words that he couldn't bring himself to say. He wanted to punch something, wanted to scream, needed to run, instead he crossed his arms in front of himself, gripped his biceps tight enough to wrinkle the suit. He had to hold on to something or he'd dissolve into sand, disappear like he'd never lived.

He slowly turned, then asked Maria with carefully enunciated words, "Agent Melinda May, your S.O., my pilot, sold us out? When?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, Hill, it damn well does!"

"Phil, what is wrong?" Maria reached out for Phil and he backed up, throwing one hand up to ward her off while the other reached behind him for his additional side arm.

"Just answer the damn question! When did Melinda May tell you where we were?"

Maria dropped her hands and took a step back. "Fine. You wanted her gone, so she left. You know how Mel can be…"

In that moment, Phil was reminded too vividly of Bahrain and its fallout, of all the losses afterwards, most so intimate and deep they still reverberated into this very room. 

Maria pursed her lips, then shrugged. "Ma picked her up, then used some contacts to find me. We met outside Toronto. She told me everything. Garrett. The Hub. The Fridge. What you'd been through. Fury's little signal." She gave a forced laugh at that. "The ass. Still pulling strings…" She looked at Phil, was measuring him carefully. 

"So you're saying Melinda's alive?"

Phil let out a shaky breath, felt like his strings had been cut.

"Of course. What?" Maria's brow furrowed. "What the hell happened here, Phil?"

Phil shook his head and started laughing, couldn't really stop. He slumped into a chair and looked up at Maria. "You have no fuckin' idea! Goddamn Hydra was on my team the whole time. Grant Ward."

"What? I helped vet him!" Maria's shout was indignant. "Fuckin' Pierce!" she hissed.

"It was Pierce?"

Maria nodded. 

"Well shit. We really are fucked."

"That's why… it had to happen, Phil." Maria pulled out another chair and sat down next to Phil, her palm on his hand. "Hydra was inside S.H.I.E.L.D. almost from inception. They grew together, inextricably linked. There was no way to save it."

"Then what the fuck do we do now? Just what exactly is the alternative?" He shuddered at the thought of Talbot and his cronies getting a hold of his team. "Are we supposed to give ourselves up? Accept voluntary detention while Talbot, or _Ross_ , decide our fate?"

"Yes. No! Not that second part. Just come quietly. There are other ways."

Phil shook his head. "I can't, Maria. Not when Ward has Skye. I can't abandon her to Hydra."

"But--"

"No!"

"Okay," Maria said. "How about if you start at the beginning and tell me all the stuff Mel didn't know?"

Phil took a deep breath. He’d accused Maria of being Hydra, but didn't actually believe that. Talbot might be a stiff-necked, small-minded, order-following lackie, but he was not Hydra. He didn't have the imagination for it. So Phil relented, filling her in on everything that had happened, including Koenig's death and the reveal of Ward being Hydra. He didn't stop there. It was like a dam had opened. He told her about everything from the Guest House to May's monitoring. From her flinch, he was reasonably certain she hadn't been aware of that, either.

When he stopped talking, he was empty, drained of everything, including the drive to continue fighting. Everyone else had given up, how was he supposed to go on alone?

"That's a lot to take in."

"Been a busy week."

"Phil, I think I can help."

"I'm not turning my team over to Talbot."

"What about to me?"

Phil looked at her, his disbelief clear. "You think Talbot will agree to that?"

Maria gave Phil that wicked smile that reminded him that she wasn't Nick's second for nothing. 

He shrugged. "I'm pretty sure you've left me no choice."

"We'll rig the self-destruct with just enough time to get all the personnel out. I'll be forced to run for your plane. And I'll vouch for you, but we'll meet up with Mel instead."

"Fine, that plan gets me and my team out, but what next? With no backup, no S.H.I.E.L.D. resources, how am I going to find Skye?"

"I think my new job might give us an in with someone who can help."

"New job? That was fast."

When she didn't say anything, Phil bent his head toward her. "Maria?"

She closed her eyes, squared her shoulders, then opened her eyes. "I work for Stark Industries. Chief of Security."

"I thought… what about…" Phil just blinked at Maria. Talk about oil and water. "What the hell?"

Maria shrugged.

"Wait. You want me to ask Tony Stark for help?"

Maria gave him a sheepish smile.

Phil sat back, stunned. It was not that he doubted Stark's ability to help, but that help would come with… conditions. After all, Phil was still dead as far as The Avengers knew. If Stark found out that Phil was alive, there was no way he'd keep it from Banner or any of the rest. And that meant Clint and Natasha would learn that Phil had lied to them for all this time. It seemed forgiving Melinda and Maria was the least of Phil's worries. But saving Skye from Ward and Garrett was too important. Besides, Phil was tired of the lies and he missed his old team.

"Let's do it."

**Author's Note:**

>  **A/N:** This satisfies my hurt-comfort bingo square: _arrest._ The title is taken from Tracy Chapman's "In the Dark", suggested to me by the incredible hitlikehammers. Thank you, doll! 
> 
> **Beta:** My greatest gratitude goes to hitlikehammers for the support and awesome beta skills. Thank you, m'dear! If you do see errors, they're all on me because I fiddle after she looked through it.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** These are Marvel and Whedon and ABC's characters used in the spirit of creative commons. I promise to return them with smiles on.


End file.
